Algeria send wasteful Netherlands off to America with friendly defeat

In their final pre-tournament friendly, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman gave West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville his first cap, while Brighton's Mats Wieffer came in for the suspended Denzel Dumfries, who is set to join Real Madrid. Summerville's inclusion in the World Cup squad marked his maiden call-up for Oranje.

The first moment of danger at De Kuip came from the in-form Donyell Malen, who struck the woodwork in the eighth minute after neatly turning away from Aissa Mandi. Crysencio Summerville and Tijjani Reijnders then combined for what looked like a goal shortly after, but their effort was disallowed for offside.

Netherlands continued to press for an opening goal, relying on the pace of Summerville and Malen. They combined just before the 20th minute, but Malen could not convert Summerville's cross into Luca Zidane's goal.

Oranje's high pressing gave Tijjani Reijnders another opportunity just before Algeria made their mark. In front of thousands of Algerian fans, Brighton's Bart Verbruggen saw a shot deflected over his goal before he then saved a fierce effort from Nabil Bentaleb.

With a monsoon lashing Rotterdam, Donyell Malen was repeatedly targeted by his teammates, but Micky van de Ven's cross went straight to Zidane, while Wieffer's low delivery was cut out by the Fennecs' defence.

Ruing missed chances

After a raft of half-time substitutions, including a goalkeeper change that handed Sunderland's Robin Roefs his Netherlands debut, Reijnders and Malen again went close. However, they could not score, with a Roma striker also missing a one-on-one opportunity against Zidane.

Justin Kluivert was next to test Zidane with a long-range effort, but the Granada goalkeeper continued his impressive performance with another save. Memphis Depay, the Netherlands' all-time leading scorer, then drew another stop from Luca Zidane.

Instead, Feyenoord's Anis Hadj Moussa gave Algeria a surprising lead in the 82nd minute, firing the ball into Roefs' top corner at the stadium where he has scored frequently.

Netherlands could not engineer any late chances to salvage the friendly, and they were left to lament their missed opportunities as a 1-0 defeat to Algeria sent Oranje off to the United States for the World Cup.

Ronald Koeman's side will play one more friendly before the World Cup, facing Uzbekistan in New York City on June 8th in a match held behind closed doors.